Realization
by Ayumu Foxtail-chan
Summary: She watched her nerdy friend grow into a powerful and mature trainer; and slowly she felt as her heart grew more and more affectionate toward him. -Checkmateshipping one-shot!


**Just a fun little one-shot about one of my favorite pairings. There needs to be more Cheren love on this site. XD It's short and warm-feeling... at least I think so. Haha!**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

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**_Realization_**

In the beginning, I never thought I could see the little nerdy boy I'd grown up with as anything but a friend. He was my polar opposite. He'd rather stay inside and read, while I'd give up indoor air conditioning for sunshine any day. He was quiet and refined, whereas I didn't have a refined bone in my body, constantly shouting at the top of my lungs and making a fool of myself.

It took nothing short of an army to drag Cheren out of the house as a child. Well, what we had that was closest to an army, which of course was Bianca and I tugging and pulling at his sleeves until we'd drug him out and off of his porch.

He would squint into the sun, snarling at us and straightening his shirt before we would grab onto him again and haul him down to the ocean. Of course, even there he wouldn't do much more than stare out at the water, muttering about how hot it was and that it was a bother.

He was introverted. He never made friends easily, but I think in a way he figured he didn't need them as long as he had Bianca and I. We were enough for him. We were the only social interaction he needed Perhaps we were more than enough social interaction for him. What with my outgoing personality and Bianca and her hyper rambles and squeals.

He was a fish out of water when he hung out with us, but I never exactly realized it. He was Cheren, the kid I'd grown up with, the kid that was fun to tease, the kid that seemed to be always be around, sitting on the front step of the house next to mine.

I never realized that Cheren was different, until we'd started out on our journey. He'd gathered up all of his books and packed them away. Taking the prospect of an adventure over the ones he was taken on when he read.

As we traveled, I had realization after realization about Cheren. First, I discovered a hidden determination that he had. He wanted to be the Champion of Unova, and by the fire in his eyes I saw that he wouldn't stop until he'd obtained it. The little nerdy kid that seemed to be only interested in books had a hidden ambition. He wanted to be the best.

The next realization came after a few months of traveling. In those first few months of journeying, Cheren, Bianca, and I grew from silly teenagers to young adults. Journeys shaped and formed even the most immature of children into mature trainers. And when I'd done some growing up, I realized exactly how much Cheren had done for me.

He'd done everything. He'd stopped me from doing multiple stupid things that could've seriously injured me as a child. Whether it was stopping me from trying to fly by jumping off of the tippy top of a tree I'd climbed, or the time I was determined to start out on my journey early, at the age of five, when I would've certainly gotten lost and starved. He saved me from my own blind determination more times than I could count.

And with that realization came another. He took care of me in another aspect. He was a caretaker. He'd cook up a pot of soup when I whined that I was hungry, when I was bitten by a wild Lillipup he'd bandaged it up. and when I'd gotten lost and called him on my X-transceiver he'd talked me through how to get out of the forest and to the nearest Pokémon Center.

He was the other half of my brain, the better half, the more informed half, and I'd never realized it before.

He was no longer an insecure bookworm either, as I found when we'd have our annual Pokémon battles. He was confident in everything he did, and he was talented too. I, the trainer that seemed to come out of nowhere as a prodigy, had troubles beating him. He was good, calm, collected, and… fantastic.

That being said, I still continued to beat him time after time, even if it _was _only by a hair. It frustrated him, I could tell; that he worked so hard at something that came so naturally to me, and yet he'd _still _lose.

In a way I felt a bit bad for him, but in seeing his continued determination as he challenged me again and again, I realized I had nothing to feel bad for. He was fine. It would insult him more if I went easy on him than if he lost while we both were trying out best.

Other little realizations dawned upon me here and there throughout my journey, but the biggest hit me when it was all over. Team Plasma was defeated as I stood inside of N's castle, watching the young Prince fly off into the distance on Reshiram.

Cheren held a hand up to shield his eyes as he stared off into the distance, and it hit me. He was… different. He stood tall, proud and powerful as a trainer and as a person. He wasn't the boy I'd grown up with anymore. He was Cheren; he'd made a name for himself.

At first I expected to feel sad. Nerdy little Cher with his taped glasses and secondhand books was no more. But I found myself liking the new Cheren. He was more like me, in a way, and throughout our journey I'd grown more like him as well. I was more responsible now, anyway.

He looked back over his shoulder and smiled at me. "Even now you managed to outshine me." There was no hit of malice or frustration in his tone. He'd expected it, I could tell. I'd beaten the Elite Four and N, the Champion. He'd managed to beat three of the four Elite members but had gotten stuck on the last, Marshall completely destroying his team.

I nodded stiffly, my mind still stuck in the clouds as I pondered over a foreign feeling making itself present in my chest. He was magnificent, even if I was considered his better.

In the beginning, I never thought I'd be able to see the little nerdy kid I grew up with as anything more than a friend, but slowly as I watched him morph, my thoughts toward him changed. Maybe I _thought_ I couldn't, but apparently the organ thumping in my chest had other ideas.

He was Cheren now, a boy bordering on a man who had found himself and with it, my admiration.

He'd always had that little childhood crush toward me, I wondered if it was still plaguing him. I smiled. Hopefully it was.

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_Indigo League Challenge- Route 1- First Person pov- Theme: Beginning_

**Checkmateshipping is just adorable if you ask me. Weird little one-shot? Yep, pretty much. XD **

**~Foxtail-chan**


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